Sparta Schools Ranked On New U.S. News List 'Best K-8'

SPARTA, NJ — Elementary and middle schools in Sparta have placed among New Jersey's best elementary and middle schools, according to a brand-new ranking released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

For the inaugural list, U.S. News published rankings and data on more than 80,000 public elementary and middle schools across the United States.

Schools are ranked at the state and district levels. The best charter schools and best magnet schools ranked as stand-alone categories.

U.S. News placed Sparta Middle School within the top 200 New Jersey middle schools, at 164 of 715 middle schools statewide, according to the new list.

Here’s a look at where Sparta Middle School placed among five middle schools on the list statewide:
160: Bernardsville Middle School, Somerset Hills Regional School District
161: Henry Hudson Regional School, Henry Hudson Regional School District (Highlands)
162: Wall Intermediate School, Wall Township Public School District
163: Logan Middle School, Logan Township School District
164: Sparta Middle School, Sparta Township Public School District

Here’s a look on the list statewide of 1,370 elementary schools that made the list and where Sparta's elementary schools stand:
244: Helen Morgan School
590: Mohawk Avenue School

Alpine Elementary School was classified as "unranked" among New Jersey Elementary Schools.

To determine the rankings, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze two areas at each school:

• Math and reading proficiency — or how well students perform on state assessments.
• Math and reading performance — or how well they perform compared with expectations.

The state assessment data used in the rankings is from the 2018-19 school year and, therefore, predates any effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on test-taking.

Nationally, California has 5,534 ranked elementary schools — the most of any state — followed by Texas at 4,446; New York at 2,211; Florida at 2,128; and Illinois at 2,038 schools.

California also has the most ranked middle schools with 2,319, followed by Texas at 1,942; Illinois at 1,243; New York at 1,219; and Florida at 997.

See the complete list of 2021’s Best K-8 Schools.